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Lord Steel of Umbra
Lord Steel of Umbra (born 18 BDW)''' '''is a member of the four-man Quadrate responsible for the day-to-day running of the Empire of Koridai. He commands Chikara Nadir's personal guard, the Imperial Koridai Praetorian, and also heads up the Hands and Eyes of Chikara, the intelligence and assassination arm of the Military. He currently resides in a mansion on the edge of The Arbiter's Grounds. Birth In the 14th Day of the Second Month, 18 BDW, the constellation known as the Sign of the Shadow was positioned just above the horizon, an astrologically significant event. For that day was the Ides of Hangar, the single most important day in the calendar of The Chamber of Sages. To them, it merely meant that they should beware of things that were not what they seemed, but to an organisation styling itself the "Society of Laz", after the ancient cult of chaos, it was the most important day in all of history. For ancient, arcane prophecies, written down and kept secret for many hundreds of years foretold that a baby would be born on that date, at precisely 1 AM, who would be . . . gifted. He would possess all the attributes of the Shadow himself, quick, quiet, unseeable . . . the perfect weapon for the ultimate goals of the Society. It took them three years to find the baby, living in a mansion in Glenien. His parents were two nobles of Roslen, both married, though not to each other, and the baby was passed off as the child of his mother's handmaiden. The Society stole the baby, in the dead of night, killing both his parents and pinning the death on the handmaiden, the only one present at the birth of the child. For the Society was not the only one who knew of the prophecies, and many had searched for the child. Childhood Steel was trained as any other assassin of the Society: Hard and fast. His preternatural ability to seemingly disappear, coupled with a talent for bladework that was almost inhuman made him quickly the best pupil in the small assassin's school where the Society trained its members. They trained him in the art of espionage, in spying, remembering information, small-unit tactics, body control. He excelled in them all. But there was one part of the training that did not . . . take: mental conditioning. Steel's naturally powerful will and strong mind made the brainwashing process undergone by all Society members ineffective. He passed all of their tests by telling them what they wanted to hear, doing unspeakable things because that was what was required, but his mind remained unbroken by their indoctrinations. Steel was distant with all of his classmates. All of them save one: A girl known only to him as Katara, "beautiful," as he recalled once to Ransom, "beautiful as the white mist of the sea-sky at midnight." She was the only friend he had, and they both finished their training at the same time, though she had been in it for two years longer than he. He was 10, and she was twelve. The Society immediately put them to work as assassins, sending them out in the pitch black of darkness to kill whomever their masters saw fit. For two years they were separated, Steel working out of a base in Glenien, Katara from Sornaiid. Their reunion, when Katara was transferred back to Glenien, was the happiest moment Steel had ever experienced, and the seeds of romance were sewn, though neither of them would even have known what the word meant. For two years Steel's existence was the closest it would ever be to being blissful. He left, he killed, and he returned home, to the only person in the world who seemed to care about him. But this abundance of emotion did not go unnoticed by their assassin masters, and it was determined that Katara was holding Steel back, halting his progression. So they arranged for an enemy neither of them could defeat: The half-demon Kitsune, fully possessed by the evil Blade of Illusion, and orchestrated the mission so that Katara was left alone, by herself, while Steel escaped, unaware of the Society's involvement in her death. And it was then, slowly, but surely, that he began to erode all emotion from his psyche, becoming one guided only by his mind. Youth and Young Manhood That was the last mission Steel would not complete. For another two years Steel honed his skills, performing each mission he was assigned flawlessly. The society watched his progress and considered that the investment they had in finding and training him, in sacrificing one of their most promising young female agents was warranted. They began to set in motion plans to finally achieve their goals (whatever they were), with Steel as the linchpin, but then they made a fatal mistake. They sent him to assassinate one of their own, a retired Society leader who had turned his back on the group and their goals. But while ransacking the target's home in search of information about his hiding place, Steel discovered Society documents. Documents about him. Documents about his birth, his parents, and the Society's role in Katara's death. Feeling emotion for the first time since Katara died, he slaughtered half of the men who comprised his former masters and fled. After spending several months on the run, hiding from those agents of the Society now chasing him, he reached the conclusion that his skills could be perhaps used for good, to somehow atone for the sins he had committed as a member of the Society. And so he went to the army of the Alliance and offered his services as a spy and assassin. The idea of a united continent appealed to him, who had fractured many a nation with a covert assassination. Then, he saw the atrocities committed in the name of order and union. Disillusioned, Steel sold his skills to the highest bidder, who happened to be a wealthy merchant about to set forth on a trading voyage across the Lalvican sea. Halfway across, they ran into pirates. These were not the elite guard which inhabited the FF, but weakling pirates, members of a minor clan. He defeated them easily, however, this attracted the attention of Admiral Juno, who managed to intercept the merchant's ship before it reached Lanasach. The pirates slaughtered the entire crew save for Steel, who was taken only under sheer weight of numbers and brought before DJ himself. Steel managed to cut his bonds and rushed the pirate overlord, believing he had nothing to lose. He killed Juno's bodyguard and then drew sword on the Admiral himself. The pirate easily knocked the sword out of Steel's hand, and then made him an offer he couldn't refuse. He became Admiral Juno's new bodyguard and personal assassin. In the war between the dorms, Steel donned the armor of a knight of Roslen, and ended up as the last pirate standing on the field, taking out all who stood in his way, until he stood face to face with Selena herself, after his comrades withdrew from around him. Although Steel put up a valiant effort, Selena's power was too great, and she killed him in three moves. The pirates recovered his body, and by the secret arts know only to Dark Juno, they resurrected him, and Steel returned to his place at DJ's side. Since the loss of his sight at the hands of a demonic clone of Kitsune, decreasing his effectiveness as an assassin and body guard, Steel has taken an increasingly active role in the governance of the Fortress as Dark Juno's second in command, especially during the second Dorm War, in which he commanded the entire Fortress Army against the Woods and Canyon Dwellers, losing only when faced by their combined might, and taking the army of the Woods down with them. Category:Player Characters Category:Citizens of The Forsaken Fortress Category:Citizens of Koridai